Blues Sky

All About Jazz reads: "After decades as an in-demand composer/arranger, and a co-leader of Denver's acclaimed H2 Big Band, pianist Dave Hanson took his 2024 week-long Artist in Residence at Denver's Dazzle Jazz club to put focus on his piano playing and his small group arranging, resulting in this debut quartet recording. With saxophonist Wil Swindler, bassist Mark Simon, and drummer Paul Romaine, Hanson pays tribute to a melting pot of towering American music innovators through this set of ten wide-ranging originals. Through the brightly swinging "Two Masters" for Bill Evans & Chick Corea, to the shuffle of "Blues Sky" for Jimi Hendrix, and the boogaloo refrains of "Dylan Dream" for Bob Dylan, Hanson's band is dynamic and inspired. "

With this album we have one that can be described as typical for the development of American jazz and that also draws on the history of jazz, sparkling full of dynamics, especially thanks to the band's saxophonist, but also because of the massive, energetic style that pianist and bandleader Dave Hanson displays. Yes, at times you can experience a revival of bop and modern jazz at its finest, including in the piece "Across the Bridge". The quartet is not a monolithic structure, but dissolves into its components, giving space for individual development, as in the case of the bassist, who is not covered by the full sound of the saxophone.

We don't know what relevance June 16 has for Dave Hanson, but we do know that he dedicated a composition to this day. This is opened up by lively broom playing and cascading piano passages. And then the bass player also speaks up loudly and with depth. Meanwhile, Hanson takes on the role of the discreet accompanist. If you want to use an image for the bass lines, it is that of choppy waves on an inland lake over which the fall wind sweeps. Below we experience the very determined sound wave of the pianist, who musically also lets us experience small whirlpool movements on the surface of the water. What Hanson performs is narrative.

Whether "Arnhem" is used to commemorate the Dutch city of the same name is speculation. In any case, this city is closely linked to the last days of the Second World War, when it was about the conquest of the strategically important bridge of Arnhem. But Hanson's quartet does not ignite a war inferno. Instead, we experience a "wind rush of sound" musically. Sometimes there is only a forward, a fast forward and never a back. On top of that, this is accompanied by interventions by the drummer, who provides massive drum rolls.

Less "stormy" is "As It Was and Is". In terms of character, this composition resembles a ballad. In terms of motifs, Hanson certainly refers to the dynamic designs of other pieces on the album. You think you're listening to the wind that sets a golden-yellow field of ears in motion. "Blues Sky", which gives the album its name, lives above all from the colorations for which the saxophonist is responsible. In the background, the pianist Hanson acts on the keyboards, i.e. on the Fender Rhodes. We also experience Hanson in a solo, where crystalline sound sequences can be heard. Otherwise, the piece breathes a little fusion and makes you think of jazz from the 1970s and 1980s. And the saxophonist, one might think, draws cloud pictures with his woodwinds. "Dylan Dream" radiates funk and more funk. There is rather no trace of Bob Dylan. "Muse Walk" finally forms the conclusion of an album that is well worth listening to.